Amazing Pierre Trudeau Facts T or F

1. As a young(ish) prime minister, P.E. Trudeau was famously “single and ready to mingle”. In fact, he briefly dated Barbra Streisand in 1970.

2. On his arrival in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Trudeau flipped the bird at three protestors. This gesture is now commonly known as the Trudeau Salute in Canada.

3. Trudeau was an exceptionally good pianist; he even jammed with the Beatles in 1967 at Quebec City’s Videotron Centre.

4. On Pierre and Margaret’s 6th wedding anniversary, Margaret partied with the Rolling Stones and even cruised around Toronto in the band’s limo. There was no seventh anniversary as this led to divorce.

5. When asked how far he would go to deal with Quebec terrorist group Front de libération du Québec, Trudeau replied, “Just watch me.” He proceeded to use the War Measures Act to remove basic civil liberties; almost 500 people were arrested without warrants or trials.

6. When Trudeau visited Shawinigan, Quebec, a protestor stood in the prime minister’s way. The prime minister grabbed the man by the neck and threw him to the ground with such force that the man lost a tooth.

7. Trudeau appeared as a guest star in an episode of Charlie’s Angels, where the Angels foil an attempt to poison the prime minister’s maple syrup.

8. Trudeau donned a toreador hat and a black cape to watch the 1970 Grey Cup game with Miss Grey Cup. As the pair went to their seats, a quick-witted football fan heckled, “There goes Zorro!”

9. Speaking of the Grey Cup, Trudeau did the ceremonial kickoff in 1968. Amazingly, he smashed a 55-yard kick in a bright yellow zoot suit.

10. Trudeau was known for his lively weekend nightlife, going to disco clubs regularly. When CBC News released footage of the PM dancing, it spawned a Canadian dance craze known as “Trudeaumania”.

11. Margaret was only 22 when she married a 51 year old Pierre Trudeau. When interviewed, Margaret’s mother, Kathleen, claimed Trudeau was “a young man at heart.” He was two years older than Kathleen.

12. After his first marriage ended in divorce, Trudeau married Elizabeth Taylor in 1986. The marriage only lasted 6 weeks.

13. President Nixon called Trudeau an [expletive]hole in conversation with Henry Kissinger. When this became public, Trudeau responded that he’d “been called worse things by better people.”

14. Trudeau called the premier of Nova Scotia, Conservative Jeff Dumas, Jeff Dumb-a** several times during a media interview. He insisted it was merely a mispronunciation, despite the fact that the name was French in origin and Trudeau’s first language is French.

15. While never proven, it is likely that Soviet spy Gerda Munsinger dated Trudeau for some time in the 1960s. She claimed as much in a CBC interview in 1971, but it seemed most Canadians did not care as Trudeau handily won an election the next year.

16. Trudeau and Nixon never got along too well. One bright moment for them was when Trudeau called to give Nixon encouragement in a tight spot—the Watergate scandal!